Legends of Lute, Book 1: The Amber Cube
by PenWraith
Summary: Book 1 in the Legends of Lute series. In the beginning, there was nothing... Then there was Lute.
1. The Legend of Xoron

_In the beginning there was only sand… the sands of time and eternity…_

**Then there was Lute.**

_"The God of the desert, Xoron, was the sole inhabitant of the desert, aside from the giant wurms who lived in the northern mountains at the boundaries of his territory who were there ever since the God was. The God lived in a small hut in the very center of a vast desert region he had claimed, which he had named Lute. For another eternity he was content by himself. But one day, he felt something he had never felt before. He was lonely and desired someone to share his life with so that he would not be by himself. So he took up his great bow and traveled across the desert until he came across a fast-flowing river with sky-blue water. He crossed over it with a bridge he conjured, which was as blue as the water that flowed beneath it. Then he crossed another desert, and came to the northern mountains, where his territory ended. He called into the mountain, 'Is there any being in the mountain who would ease my loneliness and keep my company?' And a large wurm whose great head touched the sky, the largest he had ever seen, slithered out of a great hole in the mountain. It said to the God, 'No, Xoron, God of the desert. No being in this mountain would keep your company. Instead, we will eat you. I will give you passage through the mountain so that you may continue your search, but be warned: If you attempt to pass through the mountains from the desert again, I will devour you, and your bow would not stay me, for my hide is stronger than flakstone.' And so the wurm slithered back into the cavern and opened a pass through the mountains for Xoron to walk through. After he had passed his territory, it was night, and there was only more desert. He wept his misfortune, and cursed himself. He would not be able to cross through to his territory again, and he had not found another being to keep his company. He wept himself to sleep. When the morn came and he woke, there was a magnificent forest standing before him, with trees as great as mountains, and each leaf glittered with a pure green glow as the sun shone through their boughs. Curious and excited, the God walked to the trees and called, 'Is there any being in the forest who would ease my loneliness and keep my company?' As he said this, a fair and beautiful being appeared, who wore a dress made out of magnificent flowers and glowed brighter than the forest. She said to the God, 'My name is Giintaras, and I will keep your company.' And so they spoke to each other about the wondrous beings and blessings in each of their lands. In the forest of light they kept each other's company until twilight, when Giintaras told Xoron that the forest disappears at sundown and does not return until the morning. Xoron said that he would wait for her and the forest, for he had to sleep at dusk anyways, when she did not. So when the forest disappeared, he slept, and Giintaras watched over him, driving off the wurms and night creatures with her divine light. In the morning, Xoron woke and confessed to the forest God that he loved her. She replied that she loved him as well. The forest God wanted to visit the desert, but Xoron replied that if he went through the mountains, then the great wurm would devour him and that there was no way around them. But Giintaras was clever in the ways of the forest. She told Xoron to take his great bow and shoot a great bird in its tail, but not to kill it. When a bird was brought down, they mounted its back, and soared over the mountain. But when the great wurm came up and reared up to eat him, Xoron took his bow and shot the great wurm in its vulnerable eye. The great wurm screeched, and thrashed, and fell. When Xoron and Giintaras examined the carcass, it disappeared, dissolved into a fine dust that blew through the desert. But a small fragment of golden stone lay behind in its place, in a cube shape. When Xoron asked Giintaras what it was, she replied that it was all the power the wurm had consumed, and that it was powerful enough to protect the land from any dangers. But when the pair went to Xoron's hut, they discovered it in ruins, and the whole desert buried within the dust of the body of the great wurm. When Giintaras touched the sand, she looked to Xoron and screamed, for she saw a great monster come to devour her, and Xoron was not there to protect her. She struck out at it, but it was really Xoron, and he was confused, for she was attacking him. He then realized that the sand was poisonous and made her see something different, and not even the amber cube could protect them from it. But since it was his realm, he was immune to it. So he took Giintaras away. But by then Giintaras was ill. So before twilight arrived, Xoron took her upon the bird and flew to the forest, where he lay her down so that she would be safe. She disappeared with the forest. When dawn came and Xoron woke, Giintaras was dying. The dust of the great wurm had invaded her veins and body, and poison now coursed through her rather that blood. She thought he was a monster again and tried to fight him. Xoron looked down at her in pity and anguish. He decided that he would leave, for that would be best for her. He left the amber cube with her, and fled back through the mountain pass, weeping all the way. Wurms did not oppose him until the end of the pass, where many waited to devour him. In his anguish, he took up his bow and slew many, and the rest, fearing for their lives, fled back into the mountains. Xoron crossed the blue bridge spanning the river and ran through the desert until he came to the place where he once lived. And he wept and he wept. Where his tears fell, small beings reached up through the sand in his shape. When he felt their presence, he looked at them. Then he smiled. He spoke to them. 'My children. My love would have wanted you to be happy, so I will teach you to speak and dance and build, and you will populate the sands until your deaths.' And so he taught them to speak and dance and build, and they built many a city along the land. They lived and died mortal lives, but still Xoron loved them, and watched over them always. Xoron still remembered the day that his love had been left behind, and felt that it was he who killed her, for he was a man and men, in their foolishness and sense of responsibility, believe that it is their fault for the evil in our world. And over time, he crossed over the desert again, past the blue bridge and the sands of illusion, and over the mountains, until he came to the forest of light. He felt that his children were safe, for he gave them protection against the sands of illusion. He exsisted there for many an eternity, searching for his love, until darkness took him. And there he found his love. So he watched over his children always, and will for the next eternities to come._


	2. Prologue

_In the beginning there was only sand… the sands of time and eternity…_

**Then there was Lute.**

Sand. Sand everywhere.

It was all they knew.

It was their home... their life...

It was all they knew.

All that lies to the north are the mountains of dust, that reach up and scrape the sky, and continue on forever to the east and west. Slightly to their south, not a kiro away, lies wurm country, where vicious wurms of all shapes and sizes make their lairs. Wild things make their home here, close to the river Amber that runs through the mountains and splits into the river Blue and the river Sera. Right between the tributaries is the town of Fardil. The river Sera runs forever to the southwest, while the river Blue flows east and then turns south into the white lake, in which a single island rises up above the misty pale waters. The town of Pecila provides water and food for the whole land with their fishing capabilities upon Xa island. The Blue bridge is the only thing that spans the fast-flowing watersof the river Blue, the only way into wurm country, unless of course you were foolish enough to cross with a boat. The town of Harak guards the Blue bridge and prevents any monsters from passing into populated territory. South, far, far south past the river Amber, lie a few isolated flakstone mountains, which the city of Pykka mines for its precious metals every waking hour. Quite a few kiros away to the south lies the sea of fire, the area of the desert where sandstorms and mistrals rage through often and continuously. The only city here is Racidd, the town with the least resources, where no purse or unwary wallet is safe. Ironically, the closest city to Racidd is Xoron, in the very center of Lute, the most populous of all cities, the greatest of them all. To the south of Xoron is the city of wall, which constantly watches over the southernmost iron and stone barrier which keeps the deadly and poisonous sands of illusion at bay, or at least keeps the worst of it out. Beyond the wall is the endless desert of illusion. Nobody knows what lies out there, but there are rumours that you can see things out there that will readily make you desert the land behind the wall. Not even sand-filters will protect you from the desert's full, toxic force. The easternmost city of Karad, south of the white lake, is famous for its art. The people are said to be of the sand itself, for they are expert at keeping themselves and even their city hidden from any wild sandfolk or monsters that roam the region. And finally, to the west, south of the river Sera, lies the region of Arahas, where ancient and crumbling stone pillars dot the whole of the area, where even some sturdier structures can be seen in the sea of fire. One of the most mysterious of cities, Greda, lies close to its borders near Xoron, and the last city is the ancient fortress-garrison of Ki'Komm, home of the rangers and the guardians of lute, who travel above the scorching sand with their grappling-hooks over the stone towers. It is they who protect Lute from any foreign invader, be it within the land or from without, with their great bows and crossbows.

It is a time of danger, a time of trial. Great wurms and other beasts have emerged from beyond the wall before, but none the size of the great landeaters, great, armoured wurms almost as large as a small mountain, who are devouring the whole world with their great and endless maws of darkness. Some say they are vomited forth from the edge of the world, the abyss of Carcino. Some say they are the spawn of the great wurm come to avenge their father's death. Others say that they are a challenge to prove the people worthy of exsisting. Whatever the cause, they must be stopped before the whole of the world is swallowed by their maws of darkness.

The legend begins here, behind the walls of Lute, the wall, the mountains of Dust, and beyond. What will one encounter here in these stories? Tales of adventure, trial, passion, and heroism. Stories of life and death. Myths and legends.

What you are reading here is but one of these legends.


	3. Chpt 1 Rocks

Chpt. 1- _The Rocks_

_In the beginning there was only sand… the sands of time and eternity…_

**Then there was Lute.**

--

_Absolutely nothing_, was the thought that ran through his head. _Just like yesterday_. Small clouds rose above the orange-yellow sand as a small gust of wind blew from the deep blue sky.

The young ranger closed his spycrystal with a small _clink, _before returning it to its position in its small pouch at his belt. After patting it reassuringly to make sure it was secure, he sat down for a moment, the painfully thin stone tower that he rested upon wobbling slightly at his movements. Looking around, all that could be seen from his view were the ancient stone pillars swaying in the wind, the last remnants of some long-forgotten people. Or so the scribes believed.  
He retrieved a small loaf of sandbread with some small dried strips of quekka meat. He then slowly removed the grated sand-filter covering his mouth, and undid the straps to his eyeguards, revealing brown eyes, a shapely nose, a thin mouth, and skin almost the colour of sand. He squinted his eyes at the sharp, biting light pervading his vision. He couldn't wait for too long without the filter. He left his bandanna on, but let the hair that hung past it shine in the sun. He bit into the dry food, sluicing it down with a quick swig of his water bottle, careful not to spill any onto his new uniform, a grey straw shirt underneath a lighter grey strapless vest. Even though it was waterproof, shockproof, and pretty good defense against most impacts, it still annoyed him to get dirty. Dirty was more Reff's style. He never cleans his uniform.  
As he chewed slowly, he reflected upon his reason for being here in the first place. Reports have recently been cast that a landeater had been spotted near his patrol route. Seeing as it was his responsibility, he decided to search for it. Though, of course, it may only be a rumor of a new, loose-tongued ranger looking for some action. Or maybe it was just a harmless rockwurm.  
'Harmless!' Chej. He was getting complacent. 'Harmless, my ass.' Sighing noisily, he wiped his mouth and replaced the containers of food in his small pack, and buckled it to his all-purpose hardhide belt. Then he replaced the sand-filter and lightguards, and he could breathe without fear of the sands of illusion pervading his system. He waited for his eyes to adjust, and then walked to the edge of the small, two-metre wide towertop, stretching his head fearlessly over the edge, noting the very, _very _long way down. As he watched, a stone-scarab scuttled across a small ledge underneath him. He looked to the nearest tower on his course. After selecting a rather solid-looking pillar, which to the untrained eye would have passed for as unstable, he reached for his iron grappling-hook and rope lying on the sand-coloured stone, clanking it against his water bottle. He turned around and walked back to the other edge of the pillar. He sighed again, and prepared himself. When he looked to the edge again, his eyes were filled with confidence.  
He turned around, waited a moment to let the wind die down and for any flying creatures pass, then he ran and leaped off the pillar with a huge bound, swinging his grappling-hook as he went. The wind whistled noisily through the string on his taut bow, primary defence against most threats. As he plummeted, he looked downwards to the ground, sixty feet below. He had plenty of room.  
He quickly swung his hook around and launched it as hard as he could, a fair distance away, and it struck the top of the tower, biting into the stone without a problem. Then, with practiced ease, he positioned his legs forwards and clipped the rope to his belt. Then he braced himself.  
The huge jolt came soon after, and the rope went taut in his hands. The grappling hook creaked with the strain, though he wasn't able to hear it. Immediately the ground began pulling for him, pulling him down to the ground. But the rope didn't let it.  
He let out an exorbitant _Whoop! _as he flew through the air, pushing all his weight forwards and swinging through the air, first descending, and then rising rapidly at an astonishing speed. The tower's cracks and fissures blurred together as he sped past. He looped up, over the tower, and then dropped onto it, flipping right-side up and landing on his feet. The impact shook the painfully thin, yet stable tower violently, sending the ranger stumbling, and remembering his training, he relaxed and curled into a small ball, rolling across the tower's top. As he tumbled he pulled out a stone-spike and dug it in to the surface, halting his momentum tremendously and jarring his already-jarred shoulder. As he tensed and pulled himself upwards, he raised his hand to dust himself off, and winced at the pain in his chest, neck, and shoulder. _I really gotta get one of those new grappling-hook launchers. My shoulders can't stand too much of this. _Ignoring the pain, he brushed his vest gently. _Though maybe a cushion would be more helpful for the landings  
_He stretched his arms upwards and swung them in a circle a few times to relieve the tension, all the while sending sparks of pain all over his torso, and then relaxed and sat down. Travel by grapple and rope was slow and dangerous at the best of times. Although most rangers wouldn't tell you that. Actually they would say that it was the best way to get around. And Korrag agreed with them. Actually, despite the pain, he couldn't imagine travelling another way. The pillars, the 'rocks,' held a certain charm that way.  
As Korrag stretched his stiff, aching legs, wishing for a cooling-patch, a glimmer of movement caught his eye.  
He stood up and brought his spycrystal to his eye, and surveyed the shimmering patch in the distance.  
'Finally,' He muttered, the sand-filter giving his voice a metallic sheen, and lowered his spycrystal. 'I found you.'


	4. Chpt 2 Landeater

Chpt. 2- _Landeater_

Landeaters were cousins of the many species of wurm found in the mountains and the desert, but were far larger. **(1)** They were covered by multiple, huge plates of chitin, each as long as a tower was tall. Landeaters' body shape actually didn't resemble that of a true wurm at all, whose bodies were long, muscular, and sinuous. In fact, they looked more like an ovular dome, which at its apex was three times as tall as that of a shorter tower. And its body could stretch to be as long as an entire village. Fortunately, this one wasn't as large. Maybe even smaller than a tower. Which was possible considering their physical variability. Their mouths appeared as a hole cut into its frontal plate, within which endless rows of serrated teeth always moved, shovelling sand within its cavernous gullet. The bottom half was almost always underneath the sand unless it got angry. Or it felt like coming up. Around its sides were the clusters of black eyes which glimmered as if always moist. The bottom of its body was rarely seen, but it was unarmored and smooth, enabling it to glide and burrow over and under sand with ease. They apparently needed absolutely no protection from the poisonous sands of illusion. Rather, they seemed to live on it.  
Legends told of landeaters devouring entire villages, rampaging in a fury, crushing it with its plates or just tunnelling up from underneath and swallowing them whole. Fortunately most of the greater cities boasted tremendous defenses against them if they ever dared attack. Which, for some reason, they didn't.  
This one wasn't even nearly as tall as a tower, judging by the sandy cloud rising not too far upwards from where it was tunneling. Which meant the tremors were weaker. Which meant it was smaller. Which meant that his bow could finish it off in only a few shots to its eyes.  
The eyes of a landeater were one of its only vulnerable areas, and they were directly connected to one of its two brains. Unless a ranger by luck managed to get one of the weak spots in its armour, which in its own right is almost impossible to penetrate unless with a strong enough weapon, it was almost impossible to kill. Its vitals were pressed close to the surface of its plating, as its massive stomach took up most of its body space. If it were smaller he could take it with only a spear. But this one needed something stronger. Like his crossbow, or maybe his regular bow. But today, he didn't feel like using either.  
He raised his arm and drew back his sleeve, revealing the metallic device that was strapped there. It glinted cruelly in the sunlight. Spikes, plates, and all matter of strange metal pieces were assembled into a strange and deadly-looking iron contraption. It seemed unhealthy to even look at it.  
'Well, ol' nag,' Korrag chuckled menacingly. 'Time for your workout.'  
He reached over the device to a small attachment at its front, and pulled it out with a single, swift motion. It took the form of a strange glove, but instead of fingers, it had a series of small metal wires assembled into a frame for his fingers. He pulled it over his hand, and flexed the strange gauntlet with a twitch. Something inside the contraption twanged at the movement. A grin stretched across underneath his sand-filter. 'Good. String secure and taut.' As he said this, he reached over again and pulled a small lever at its rear.  
The results were immediate. The plates rose up on metallic arms, twisted themselves around, and attached themselves with metallic noises. Other pieces moved themselves around and reassembled, all the while accompanied by the clicking and clanking of the gears in its internal workings.  
Two metal spines shot out of sheaths pointing to the rear, and promptly rotated until they were both perpendicular to the device. A string was released by a hook near the base, and it snapped taut between the fins.  
When the procedure was complete, the result appeared to be nothing less than a large, evil-looking metal bow strapped to his forearm. He flicked his fingers, and the launcher's string hummed. Korrag cooed, the grin on his face spreading by the minute. The sand-filter over his mouth hissed as his breath passed through it. 'Haven't used you for a while, ol' nag. You seem a bit rusty.' The launcher screeched softly as if in response.  
The ranger drew something from a packet on his hardhide belt, that appeared to be a steel canister with red stripes zigzagging along the contours of its shape. The ranger placed it into the firing tube in the launcher's center. Then he took sight of his target some ways away, through the miniature spycrystal fixed to its front. The glimmering cloud of dust shimmered. It was closer than he thought. And quite a bit bigger. Maybe he should have brought some help. After all, this was a landeater, not some miniature sandwurm! He should have thought about it earlier, back at the barracks. Not too many 3rd-ranked rangers have been able to take on a landeater by themselves, not even one as small as this one. Aside from the great Vikor Norran. Of course.  
No matter. He could deal with it with the nag.  
He flexed his middle finger, and the string attached to the cylinder drew back the firing chamber, by means of a series of devices that helped to push it far back enough.  
As it pulled back far enough, his index finger rose upwards as it was pulled up. He held the weapon steady with his other arm, and the muscles in his shoulder and neck strained to keep the weapon steady. Launchers were hard to balance, even with their light weight. His finger tensed. The shimmering cloud neared his position, and a low, mournful moaning could be heard. Korrag waited. The shimmering cloud whirled round, and a deep rumble could be heard underneath the ground as the landeater tunneled. Korrag began to sweat, small droplets of moisture dropping off his chin. A tower collapsed nearby, signalling its position, and Korrag tracked its movements as it passed right by the tower he stood upon. The dust blew around him, stinging unprotected skin. He faltered for a moment, the weapon dropping, as he waved his hand around his face to clear the dust away, until he noticed the rumble beginning to fade. 'Chej. No way are you escaping from me!' He called out to the thing, knowing it couldn't hear him. Quickly, he ran to the edge of the tower, and stumbled, but he righted himself, targeted the stone-like top of the shell plate which protuded from the surface of the orange-yellow sand, pushing through the sand like a boat cutting through water. Korrag squinted, and pulled his finger. The weapon shrieked as steel grinded upon steel, and the string released, launching its payload at the target faster than the eye could see. The detonator careened towards its target at a blinding speed.  
Detonators appeared to be nothing but a common metal canister, but its true intention was far more ominous- and useful.  
The detonator's purpose was to bring up tunneling landeaters if they weren't already above ground so that arrows and darts can finish them off. **(2)** Civilians use them for some games, or if needed, to take on rogue wurms rampaging across villages. But to get a landeater, you can't just throw it. You need tremendous force to penetrate deep enough into the earth to even dent its shell. And the launcher is even strong enough to dig a dart right through its frontal plating- one of the few weapons strong enough to penetrate the 'unbreakable' shell. **(3)**  
Korrag stumbled and almost tumbled off the edge, but he caught himself and backed away-  
Just as an enormous explosion rocked the tower, accompanied by a blinding sphere of light, as if the sun itself had been brought to the ground. Korrag stumbled backwards, shielding his eyes. The noise alone shook the ground. A massive cloud of sand was brought up, and a deafening, grating screech could be heard above the sound of thrashing and squirming.  
Korrag swiftly drew a dart from its quiver on his back and loaded it into the launcher, and pulled his middle finger down to nock the weapon. His index finger was suddenly pulled up as it met resistance.  
And he looked to the landeater, bringing the weapon around to bear.  
There the landeater thrashed, evidently in massive pain. Only its upper plating was shown. Korrag cursed. It was too deep for the detonator to have brought it up fully to the surface, and the underbelly was still buried in the sand. But he could settle for what he got. Its eyes were dull from the intense light, and they didn't glimmer with all the luster a usual landeater possessed. He took aim at the pained creature, taking sight of the crack in its carapace where the detonator's explosion had affected it the most, and launched the dart. Another tremor shook the ground as the thing thrashed, and he stumbled, but still noticed that the dart struck the plating at a slant, bouncing off the armour and embedding itself in a tower further away. He let out a curse, the sand-filter muffling whatever would have been heard. The ground kept shaking, and the tower swayed violently. Korrag pushed the lever of the launcher back in, and the string fell back into its position, and the whole weapon seemed to collapse into itself as the metallic pieces rotated back into their original position, pushing the fins parallel to each other, before retreating into their sheaths. Clouds of sand continued to billow around him as the landeater screeched its pain, the cracked portion of its carapace cracking even more in the process. The tower still swayed dangerously, and as Korrag fought to keep a grip on it, a cracking noise was audible above the wind and dust blowing past his ears.  
_'Chej!' _He screamed. The wind caught the curse and blew it away. He folded his sleeve downwards to protect the valuable and dangerous weapon from the choking sand. He couldn't see anything through his lightguards. The sand was too thick.  
After a moment's hesitation, he drew out his grappling-hook, and swung it out randomly towards the closest dark spot he could see, and leapt outwards, hoping that the hook had enough weight for it to stay on course through the wind.  
Because if it missed, he would soon be a dark splotch on the hardly packed sand below.

--

**(1)** _Scribes assumed that they were once one creature long ago, but something happened to make them separate into two species._

**(2)** _The launcher is an extremely powerful weapon designed to pierce the plates of a landeater with little or no resistance. Despite their size, they are one of Lute's most powerful weapons created so far. Ki'Komm imports them from Pykka, where they are assembled and manufactured. Few are priveledged enough to use (Or afford) them._

**(3) **_However, detonators were extremely expensive to manufacture and so are only used by the rangers for landeaters.  
_


End file.
